AFP, Kuala Lumpur :
The coach of Malaysia’s national football team announced his resignation on Saturday just days after his squad was thrashed 10-0 by the United Arab Emirates during a World Cup qualifying match.
Dollah Salleh’s tenure as head coach comes to a premature end after he signed a two-and-a-half year contract in July last year, in a bid to lift the team out of the doldrums.
“Who can accept a 10-0 defeat? That is why I quit,” Salleh, who was one of the top footballers from the region in the 1980s and 1990s, told AFP.
“Historically, it is the worst ever defeat for the national team.” The national team has come under increasingly harsh criticism for failing to perform in recent months.
In June, Malaysia suffered a 6-0 loss at the hands of Palestine during a World Cup qualifier. Following Dollah’s resignation, the Football Association of Malaysia announced the appointment of veteran Malaysian footballer and manager Ong Kim Swee as interim coach and hinted they may hire a foreigner to lead the team in the future.
Malaysia is set to play against another regional heavyweight, Saudi Arabia, next Tuesday.
